Soil erosion, namely, the detachment of particles of soil and surficial sediments and rocks, is a serious problem recognized worldwide. Essentially, erosion occurs via the forces of wind and water that facilitate the movement of topsoil from one place to another. Of such forces, water erosion is generally considered more detrimental to soils both by the volume of soil removed, and the area of land influenced. Moreover, although soil erosion can potentially occur in any land surface, sloping areas mantled with soil or loose sediment are particularly susceptible to such forces and are exceptionally vulnerable to the extent the same lack any type of vegetation, as occurs during grading or when such areas have been attacked by wildfires. Indeed, current data seems to suggest that in the United States, soil has recently been eroded at about seventeen times the rate at which it forms. Further data suggests that soil erosion rates in Asia, Africa and South America are about twice as high as that in the United States.
Due to its significance, several attempts have been made to prevent or substantially reduce soil erosion. Among the more well-known of such methods include agricultural practices, such as contour farming and terracing, no-till cultivation, strip farming and polyvarietal cultivation. Other well-known approaches include adding organic matter to soil which, by biochemical degradation, produces polysaccharides that are cohesive in nature and act to cause soil particles to stick together and resist erosion. Along these lines, products have been introduced to provide at least temporary erosion control, particularly with respect to slopes and the like until such time as trees and vegetation can take root to resist erosion. Such products include bonded fiber matrices, such as Soil Guard® produced by Mat Inc., of Floodwood, Minn., which comprises a continuous layer of elongated fiber strands held together by a water-resistant bonding agent. Such product is operative to eliminate direct raindrop impact on soil and further includes high water-holding capacity that eventually biodegrades into plant nutrients.
Such products, however, are of limited effectiveness and often do not provide the degree of soil erosion resistance as is typically desired, particularly for use in relation to man-made slopes and terraces in arid regions, such as southern California and Arizona. Such lack of effectiveness can and does often affect residential and commercial property development where man-made slopes are developed to support such structures and the like. In this regard, inadequate soil erosion resistance can culminate in the destruction of condemnation of buildings and dwellings, as well as create substantial storm water pollution. Moreover, such matrices can inhibit new plant growth by acting as a barrier against proper germination.
Likewise not heretofore addressed by the prior art is the risk posed to slopes, hillsides, and the like whose vegetation has been substantially eradicated by wildfires. In this regard, the vegetation that would normally be present upon such hillsides and slopes typically act as a barrier to resist soil erosion; however, in the absence of such vegetation such earthen structures quickly erode, as discussed above. Indeed, wildfires in Southern California and Colorado evidence the extensive damage that can occur to exposed mountains and hillsides following exposure to a wildfire and even the best management practices for resisting erosion can only afford a moderate degree of protection. Along these lines, from a soil erosion control standpoint, it is generally agreed that avoiding the destruction of vegetation by wildfires will substantially eliminate the threat of erosion to a given mountain, hillside or slope and thus substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the need for supplemental erosion control via the use of one or more prior art erosion control practices.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for compositions and methods for resisting soil erosion to a much greater degree than prior art compositions and methods that is further operative to act as a fire retarding agent that substantially reduces risk of destruction to vegetation by wildfires and the like. There is further need in the art for such compositions and methods that are non-toxic, biodegradable, can be readily deployed utilizing existing, commercially-available application techniques, and acts to serve as a soil conditioner and fire retarding agent. Still further, there is a need in the art for such a composition and method that is of simple formulation, relatively inexpensive to produce, and utilizes known, commercially-available materials.